India, Pakistan Foreign Secretaries To Meet On January 15

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan on December 25, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet on January 15 in Islamabad. According to agency reports, though there was no official announcement to this effect, sources said that foreign secretary S. Jaishankar will travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart, Mr Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

The meeting will discuss the modalities of the bilateral comprehensive dialogue which was announced during the visit of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to Islamabad earlier this month. On December 23, the neighbouring country had proposed talks between the foreign secretaries to discuss all outstanding issues in the middle of January. According to sources, India had accepted the proposal.

The peace process was set in motion when the Prime Ministers of the two countries met in Paris on November 30 on the sidelines of the Climate Change Conference, which was followed by the national security advisers' meeting in Bangkok a week later. Later, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had visited Pakistan to attend the Heart of Asia Conference.